New Fed Chair Confronts 'Baptism by Fire' Amid Renewed Rate Hike Discussions - Investopedia

Trump’s economic chief says inflation is falling. Data says otherwise  AOL.com

Trump Tells "Less Shackled" Pulte To Fire Intelligence Officials As Senate Blocks FISA Extension When has the Senate ever not increased government spy powers? When President Trump installs Bill Pulte as acting DNI and instructs him to start kicking hornet nests, apparently.   In a WSJ interview published Friday, Trump revealed he has directed incoming acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to begin the process of firing a large number of employees as part of a major shake-up of the U.S. intelligence community. Trump described the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as “unnecessary and/or too big” and said he wants it made “much smaller” - and possibly even terminated. “I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” Trump said, targeting holdovers from prior administrations. He told Pulte to “start the process” of firings, noting that Pulte’s acting status makes him “less shackled” and gives him more power in the short term to do the “hard work” of downsizing before a permanent director is confirmed. Trump compared the approach to Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s efforts to shrink her department.

Federal Reserve balance sheet shrinks again as reserve balances drop $52.7B in a single week  Crypto Briefing

Breaking News: Stocks slumped after stronger-than-expected jobs data raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated.  Facebook

Stocks sink as worries about an interest rate hike rattle tech investors  NBC News

Ringing The Bell: Meta Plunges On Report It May Sell "Tens Of Billions" In New Stock They don't ring the bell at the top, but they sure do sell a lot of stock. With SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI looking to IPO hundreds of billions in common stock (not counting even more hundreds of billions in lock up expirations that will hit the market soon)... ... coupled with Google's record $80 Billion follow on offering (of which half was a memestock-esque At The Market offering direct to retail), suddenly the cash-incinerating AI companies - already full to the gills with SPV and various other forms of debt - are realizing that if they don't move fast they will miss the boat. And sure enough, FT reports that arguably the biggest cash burner of the lot, Meta, is considering raising tens of billions of dollars in a stock offering as it seeks new sources of capital to fund Mark Zuckerberg’s vast ambitions in AI, following the launch of Google’s recor